AN
ACT AUTHORIZING THE CITY OR MUNICIPAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OR THE CONSUL
GENERAL
TO CORRECT A CLERICAL OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR IN AN ENTRY AND/OR CHANGE
OF FIRST NAME OR NICKNAME IN THE CIVIL REGISTER WITHOUT NEED OF A
JUDICIAL
ORDER, AMENDING FOR THIS PURPOSE ARTICLES 376 AND 412 OF THE CIVIL
CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES.

Be it enacted
by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress
assembled:

Section 1. Authority
to Correct Clerical or Typographical Error and Change of First Name or
Nickname. — No entry in a civil register shall be changed or
corrected
without a judicial order; except for clerical or typographical errors
and
change of first name or nickname which can be corrected or changed by
concerned
city or municipal civil registrar or consul general in accordance with
the provisions of this Act and its implementing rules and regulations.

Sec. 2. Definitions
of Terms. — As used in this Act, the following terms shall mean:

(1) "City
or municipal civil registrar" refers to the head of the local
civil
registry office of the city or municipality, as the case may be, who is
appointed as such by the city or municipal mayor in accordance with the
provisions of existing laws.

(2) "Petitioner"
refers to a natural person filing the petition and who has direct and
personal
interest in the correction of a clerical or typographical error in an
entry
or change of first name or nickname in the civil register.

(3) "Clerical
or typographical error" refers to a mistake committed in the
performance
of clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing or typing an entry
in
the civil register that is harmless and innocuous, such as misspelled
name
or misspelled place of birth or the like, which is visible to the eyes
or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or changed only
by
reference to other existing record or records: Provided, however,
That no correction must involve the change of nationality, age, status
or sex of the petitioner.

(4) "Civil
register" refers to the various registry books and related
certificates
and documents kept in the archives of the local civil registry offices,
Philippine Consulates and of the Office of the Civil Register General.

(5)
"Civil
registrar general" refers to the administrator of the National
Statistics
Office which is the agency mandated to carry out and administer the
provision
of laws on civil registration.

(6) "First
name" refers to a name or nickname given to a person which may
consist
of one or more names in addition to the middle and last names.

Sec. 3. Who
may File the Petition and Where. — Any person having direct and
personal
interest in the correction of a clerical or typographical error in an
entry
and/or change of first name or nickname in the civil register may file,
in person, a verified petition with the local civil registry office of
the city or municipality where the record being sought to be corrected
or changed is kept.

In case the
petitioner has already migrated to another place in the country and it
would not be practical for such party, in terms of transportation
expenses,
time and effort to appear in person before the local civil registrar
keeping
the documents to be corrected or changed, the petition may be filed, in
person, with the local civil registrar of the place where the
interested
party is presently residing or domiciled. The two (2) local civil
registrars
concerned will then communicate to facilitate the processing of the
petition.

Citizens of
the Philippines who are presently residing or domiciled in foreign
countries
may file their petition, in person, with the nearest Philippine
Consulates.

The petitions
filed with the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general
shall be processed in accordance with this Act and its implementing
rules
and regulations.

All petitions
for the correction of clerical or typographical errors and/or change of
first names or nicknames may be availed of only once.

Sec. 4. Grounds
for Change of First Name or Nickname. — The petition for change of
first name or nickname may be allowed in any of the following cases:

(1) The
petitioner
finds the first name or nickname to be ridiculous, tainted with
dishonor
or extremely difficult to write or pronounce;

(2) The
new
first name or nickname has been habitually and continuously used by the
petitioner and he has been publicly known by the first name or nickname
in the community; or

(3) The
change
will avoid confusion.

Sec. 5. Form
and Contents of the Petition. — The petition shall be in the form
of
an affidavit, subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by
law
to administer oaths. The affidavit shall set forth facts necessary to
establish
the merits of the petition and shall show affirmatively that the
petitioner
is competent to testify to the matters stated. The petitioner shall
state
the particular erroneous entry or entries which are sought to be
corrected
and/or the change sought to be made.

The petition
shall be supported with the following documents:

(1) A
certified
true machine copy of the certificate or of the page or of the registry
book containing the entry or entries sought to be corrected or changed;

(2) At
least
two (2) public or private documents showing the correct entry or
entries
upon which the correction or change shall be based; and

(3) other
documents
which the petitioner or the city or municipal civil registrar, or the
consul
general may consider relevant and necessary for the approval of the
petition.

In case of change
of first name or nickname, the petition shall likewise be supported
with
the documents mentioned in the immediately preceding paragraph. In
addition,
the petition shall be published at least once a week for two (2)
consecutive
weeks in a newspaper of general circulation. Furthermore, the
petitioner
shall submit a certification from the appropriate law enforcement
agencies
that he has no pending case or no criminal record.

The petition
and its supporting papers shall be filed in three (3) copies to be
distributed
as follows: first copy to the concerned city or municipal civil
registrar, or the consul general; second copy to the Office of
the
Civil Registrar General; and the third copy to the petitioner.

Sec. 6. Duties
of the City of Municipal Civil Registrar or the Consul General. —
The
city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general to whom the
petition
is presented shall examine the petition and its supporting documents.
He
shall post the petition in a conspicuous place provided for the purpose
for ten (10) consecutive days after he finds the petition and its
supporting
documents sufficient in form and substance.

The city or
municipal civil registrar or the consul general shall act on the
petition
and shall render a decision not later than five (5) working days after
the completion of the posting and/or publication requirement. He shall
transmit a copy of his decision together with the records of the
proceedings
to the Office of the Civil Registrar General within five (5) working
days
from the date of the decision.

Sec. 7. Duties
and Powers of the Civil Registrar General. — The civil registrar
general
shall, within ten (10) working days from receipt of the decision
granting
a petition, exercise the power to impugn such decision by way of an
objection
based on the following grounds:

(1) The error
is not clerical or typographical;

(2) The
correction
of an entry or entries in the civil register is substantial or
controversial
as it effects the civil status of a person; or

(3) The
basis
used in changing the first name or nickname of a person does not fall
under
Section 4.

The civil registrar
general shall immediately notify the city or municipal civil registrar
or the consul general of the action taken on the decision. Upon receipt
of the notice thereof, the city or municipal civil registrar or the
consul
general shall notify the petitioner of such action.

The petitioner
may seek reconsideration with the civil registrar general or file the
appropriate
petition with the proper court.

If the civil
registrar general fails to exercise his power to impugn the decision of
the city or municipal registrar or of the consul general within the
period
prescribed herein, such decision shall become final and executory.

Where the petition
is denied by the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul
general,
the petitioner may either appeal the decision to the civil registrar
general
or file the appropriate petition with the proper court.

Sec. 8. Payment
of Fees. — The city or municipal civil registrar or the consul
general
shall be authorized to collect reasonable fees as a condition for
accepting
the petition. An indigent petitioner shall be exempt from the payment
of
the said fee.

Sec. 9. Penalty
Clause. — A person who violates any of the provisions of this Act
shall,
upon conviction, be penalized by imprisonment of not less than six (6)
years but not more than twelve (12) years, or a fine of not less than
Ten
thousand pesos (P10,000.00) but not more than One hundred thousand
pesos
(P100,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court.

In addition,
if the offender is a government official or employee, he shall suffer
the
penalties provided under civil service laws, rules and regulations.

Sec. 11. Retroactivity
Clause. — This Act shall have retroactive effect insofar as it does
not prejudice or impair vested or acquired rights in accordance with
the
Civil
Code and other laws.

Sec. 12. Separability
Clause. — If any portion or provision of this Act is declared void
or unconstitutional, the remaining portions or provisions thereof shall
not be affected by such declaration.

Sec. 13. Repealing
Clause. — All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations, other
issuances,
or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are
hereby
repealed or modified accordingly.

Sec. 14. Effectivitiy
Clause. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
complete
publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general
circulation.

Approved:

(Sgd.)
AQUILINO Q. PIMENTEL, JR.

President
of the Senate

(Sgd.)
FELICIANO BELMONTE JR.

Speaker
of the House of Representatives

This Act which
is a consolidation of House Bill No. 9797 and Senate Bill No. 2159 was
finally passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on
February
7, 2001 and February 8, 2001, respectively.